National Science Foundation MAJOR RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION (MRI) Bowie State University March 30, 2015 Dr. Kathleen Mc. Cloud mri@nsf. gov 703 -292 -8040 http: //www. nsf. gov/od/iia/programs/mri Office of International and Integrative Activities 1
NSF Overview Located in Arlington, VA Physically located in Arlington, VA Virtually located at http: //www. nsf. gov/ Office of International and Integrative Activities 2
NSF Funding Opportunities • Program Description Published only on the NSF website. Proposals must follow GPG (Grant Proposal Guide) instructions. • Program Announcement Published NSF document describing the program. Proposals must follow GPG instructions. • Program Solicitation Published* document with additional restrictions and/or requirements. Proposals must follow both the solicitation and the GPG instructions • Dear Colleague Letter Notifications of opportunities or special competitions for supplements to existing NSF awards. *Solicitations are also published at http: //www. grants. gov Office of International and Integrative Activities 3
Major Research Instrumentation Strategic Goals Supports the acquisition or development of major research instrumentation that is, in general, too costly or not appropriate for support through other NSF programs. The instrument is expected to be operational for regular research use by the end of the award period. • Supports the acquisition of a shared, major, state-of-the-art instrument, thereby improving access to, and increased use of, a modern research instrument by scientists, engineers and students; OR • Supports the development of the next generation of major instrumentation, resulting in a new type of instrument that is more widely used, and/or opens up new areas of research and research training; AND • Enables academic departments, disciplinary & cross-disciplinary units, and multi-organization collaborations to integrate research with research training. Office of International and Integrative Activities 4
The MRI Program Will Not Support: • Construction, renovation or modernization of rooms, buildings or research facilities (instruments must be able to decouple from their host environment); • Large, specialized experimental facilities (constructed with significant amounts of common building material using standard building techniques); • General purpose and supporting equipment (e. g. , general purpose computers/laboratory equipment, fume hoods, cryogen storage systems); • Sustaining infrastructure and/or building systems (e. g. , electrical, plumbing, HVAC, toxic waste disposal, telecommunications); • General purpose platforms or environments (e. g. , fixed, non-fixed structures, manned vehicles); • Instrumentation used primarily for science and engineering education courses or for medical/clinical/pharmaceutical research. Office of International and Integrative Activities 5
MRI-Eligible Expenses MRI does not support requests for multiple instruments to outfit labs/facilities Office of International and Integrative Activities 6
MRI Proposals • Next Deadline: January 13, 2016 • Restrictions on organization submission eligibility • Submission limit - Three (3) per organization: If three proposals are submitted, at least one of the proposals must be for instrument development. • Cost-sharing at the level of 30% of the total project cost is required for Ph. D. -granting institutions and non-degree-granting organizations. Costsharing is not required for non-Ph. D. granting institutions. • Merit Review - At the time of submission, PI’s are asked to identify an NSF division(s) to review proposal. NSF reserves the right to place proposals in the appropriate division(s) for review. Note: Any proposal submitted in response to this solicitation should be submitted in accordance with the revised NSF Proposal & Award Policies &Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 15 -1). The PAPPG is consistent with, and, implements the new Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance) (2 CFR § 200). NSF anticipates release of the PAPPG in the Fall of 2014 and it will be effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after December 26, 2014. Please be advised that proposers who opt to submit prior to December 26, 2014, must also follow the guidelines contained in NSF 15 -1. Office of International and Integrative Activities 7
MRI: Classification of Organizations • Ph. D. granting institutions of higher education are accredited colleges and universities that have awarded more than 20 Ph. D. s or D. Sci. s in all NSF-supported fields during the combined previous two academic years. Additionally, any organization that awards Ph. D. or D. Sci. in NSF-supported fields is considered to be a Ph. D. -granting institution if the only degrees it awards in NSFsupported fields are post-Bachelor's degrees. • Non-Ph. D. granting institutions of higher education are accredited colleges and universities(including two-year community colleges) that award Associate's degrees, Bachelor's degrees, and/or Master's degrees in NSF-supported fields, but have awarded 20 or fewer Ph. D. /D. Sci. degrees in all NSF-supported fields during the combined previous two academic years. • Non-degree granting organizations are those that do not award Associate's degrees, Bachelor's degrees, Master's degrees, and/or Ph. D. s or D. Sci. s. Non-degree-granting organizations also include institutions of higher education that award all of their degrees outside of NSF-supported fields. http: //www. nsf. gov/od/oia/programs/mri/ Office of International and Integrative Activities 8
Finding a Home at NSF Directorates/Divisions Colleges/Departments Office of International and Integrative Activities 9
MRI in FY 2015 • 811 MRI proposals reviewed, 205 awards made (success rate: 25%). • Approximately one quarter were for development projects and three quarters were for acquisition projects. Development and acquisition proposals had similar success rates (just under 26% for acquisition proposals and 24% for development proposals). • Approximately one eighth of the proposals requested budgets of greater than $1 million. The success rate for these was 20%. • Success rates broken down by the directorate that was most closely aligned with a proposal’s intellectual theme were as follows: Biological Sciences 20%; Computer and Information Science and Engineering 45%; Engineering 20%; Geosciences 32%; Mathematical and Physical Sciences 25%; Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences 37%. Office of International and Integrative Activities 10
Understand NSF Before Considering a Proposal! • Know the NSF Website (www. nsf. gov) • Search Recent Awards (www. nsf. gov/awardsearch/advanced. Search. jsp) • Identify appropriate funding opportunities (www. nsf. gov/funding/) • Talk to Program Officers in Divisions where you fit • Know the “Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide” (http: //www. nsf. gov/publications/pub_summ. jsp? ods_key=papp) • Know program purpose, goals, and requirements • Serve as a panelist! • Talk to successful PIs • Know NSF’s role compared to other Federal agencies Office of International and Integrative Activities 11
MRI Proposals What makes an MRI proposal fail before it is reviewed? • Proposals that do not include a properly formatted budget table in the budget justification; • Proposals describing activities that fall outside of the scope of those supported by the MRI program; • Proposals describing activities that fall outside of the scope of those supported by NSF; • Proposals that do not adequately distinguish development efforts from acquisition or basic research efforts; • Proposals that exceed an organization’s submission limit; • Proposals that represent standard research projects appropriate for submission to regular NSF programs; • Proposals to place an instrument at a facility of another Federal agency or one of their FFRDCs that are not submitted by consortia (rare); • Proposals that augment the scope of facilities receiving funding through the NSF Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) account (rare); Proposals with the above issues are subject to Return Without Review! Office of International and Integrative Activities 12
MRI Proposals What makes an MRI proposal fail before it is reviewed? • Proposals that do not indicate appropriate levels of cost-sharing; • Proposals that do not contain required documentation demonstrating organizational commitment and information on MRI awards to the organization in the past five years or that do not contain Results from Prior MRI Support in the Project Description; • Proposals that do not contain required supplemental documentation (e. g Data Management Plan and, if applicable, a Post-Doc Mentoring Plan) • Proposals that contain supplemental documentation not required and/or encouraged by the MRI program; • Proposals that do not conform to font, margin & page limitations; • Proposals that do not separately address the Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts in the Project Summary and Project Description; • Proposals that do not contain a Management Plan in the Project Description. There is a checklist in the solicitation – use it! Proposals with the above issues are subject to Return Without Review! Office of International and Integrative Activities 13
MRI Proposals • A management plan is required and should describe allocation of time to users, anticipated downtime, operations and maintenance, etc. • All NSF proposals now must include a data management plan describing how NSF-funded research will be made available at incremental cost in a reasonable time. Office of International and Integrative Activities 14
MRI Proposals What makes an MRI proposal fail during the review? • Proposals that do not demonstrate adequate institutional commitment; • Proposals that do not adequately demonstrate how and by whom the instrument will be utilized, operated and maintained – i. e. , proposals without a strong management plan; • Proposals that do not demonstrate shared-use within the institution, and/or among institutions; • Proposals that request instrumentation that is otherwise reasonably accessible; • Proposals that do not adequately match the budget to the scope of the project; • Proposals that do not describe research training, particularly for groups underrepresented in science & engineering or persons with disabilities. These proposals will be not review well! Office of International and Integrative Activities 15
MRI Proposals So what makes an MRI proposal competitive? Note the term “competitive”, rather than “successful”! Due (in part) to budget limitations, 20 -25% of submitted proposals are funded Good proposals may not get funded Office of International and Integrative Activities 16
MRI Proposals So what makes an MRI proposal competitive? An obvious first step is to avoid the pitfalls already mentioned! Office of International and Integrative Activities 17
MRI Proposals So what makes an MRI proposal competitive? Build your case on its merits What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity? What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity? • Describe (enthusiastically) compelling research / research training activities to be undertaken with the instrument. Buy/Build it and they will come is not a good reason… • Demonstrate how your activities will make meaningful contributions within and across disciplines in both research and research training. We are the ones best able/positioned to do this work! • Establishing a need is usually not enough. What makes you unique? • Match your proposed effort to the mission of your institution and describe it in that context. MRI awards build institutional capacity… Office of International and Integrative Activities 18
MRI Proposals Some Additional Thoughts… • Demonstrate appropriate leadership and commitment to bring the project to completion. Being a good research scientist is one thing, being a good manager is quite another… • How would the project enable the integration of research and education? MRI is a Research and Research Training program. • How would the project enable integrating diversity into NSF programs, projects, and activities? Saying it will is not enough! • Ask for what you need, no more no less. Bells and whistles are nice, but. . • Avoiding pitfalls (i. e. , “Don’t Do This”) will not guarantee a competitive proposal. So your proposal is technically flawless but is it compelling? The “opposite” of “Don’t Do This” is a vast range of possible approaches, strategies, and designs for your proposal. Office of International and Integrative Activities 19
Important Takeaway Submit early and check that was received at NSF is what you intended to submit! You can always revise and resubmit proposals prior to the deadline, but not afterwards! Tue Wed Th Office of International and Integrative Activities 20
MRI Proposals Some Additional Thoughts… Think like a reviewer • • • What “story” would you want to hear? If you wonder if reviewers will have a concern, almost certainly they will! MRI, like other grants programs, is a competition – what makes your proposal stand out? Office of International and Integrative Activities 21
Thank You! http: //www. nsf. gov/staff/orglist. jsp Office of International and Integrative Activities 22
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